Page 3

Field Reports

Welcome to the S.P.E.W. Crew

Verse 1
Welcome to the Spew Crew
Pull up if you're pissed
If you've looked around lately
And thought something's wrong with this
We don't bow to talking heads
Who tell you keep consuming
We're the folks screaming HELL NO

Chorus
S-P-E-W!
What does it mean?
Everything's welfare!
Everything!
S-P-E-W!
Who's gonna care?
If we don't do it
Nobody's there!

Verse 2
We've a bitch in a business suit
A lynx without his shoes
Mew behind the drums
Making rhythms to the news
Twins broke the power grid
This bat upside down
We're the kind of beautiful disaster
That every town should have around

Chorus
S-P-E-W!
What does it mean?
Everything's welfare!
Everything!
S-P-E-W!
Who's gonna care?
If we don't do it
Nobody's there!

Bridge
No kings
No saviors
No billionaires in space Just people
Helping people
Making a better place No magic
No miracles
No secret master plan Just neighbors
Standing together
Doing what they can

Chorus
S-P-E-W!
What does it mean?
Everything's welfare!
Everything!
S-P-E-W!
Who's gonna care?
If we don't do it
Nobody's there!

Outro
Welcome to the Spew Crew
Big hearts, bigger mouths
If you're sick of all the bullshit
Come and scream it out
Welcome to the Spew Crew
Everybody gets a say
Come on you fuckers
Let's raise some hell tonight

World of Wonder

Verse 1
As the world piles full of trash
We've inherited a planet sold by the pound
But only because we choose this
Quit fucking around

Chorus
Stop buying the shit they sell you
Read a book instead
Walk around in our world of wonder
Make us miss you when you're dead

Verse 2
Money is a tool
No different than a hammer
You can use it to build a home
Or bash in someone's head

Chorus
Stop buying the shit they sell you
Read a book instead
Walk around in our world of wonder
Make us miss you when you're dead

Bridge
Get off the screen
Look at a tree
Talk to grandma
Learn history
Take a walk
Make a friend
Leave the world
Better than you found it
The world ain't in your phone It's waiting outside

Chorus
Stop buying the shit they sell you
Read a fucking book instead
Walk around in our world of wonder
Make us miss you when you're dead

Quit Your Bitching

Verse 1
Everybody says they're angry
Everybody knows what's wrong
Everybody's got an opinion
Nobody's staying long
You post another comment
You share another meme
You tell yourself you're helping
Then go right back to sleep

Chorus
Quit your bitching
Get off your ass
Do it now
Demand it tonight

Verse 2
Everyone complained for months
Then nobody even showed
You want a better future
Then build the damn thing now
The world ain't gonna fix itself
And it doesn't care how

Chorus
Quit your bitching
Get off your ass
Do it now
Demand it tonight

Bridge
Your grandparents built these roads
Your grandparents built these towns
What are we gonna leave behind
Besides another landfill mound
They're all waiting for us To wake the hell up now
Quit your bitching
Do it now

Chorus
Quit your bitching
Get off your ass
Do it now
Demand it tonight

I Want a Lobbyist

Verse 1
How do we get a lobbyist
To buy politicians for us?
It's all our money anyway
About damn time they worked for us

Chorus
Quit voting for these assholes
They all stink
Find somebody down your street
See if they can think
Quit voting for these assholes
Same old lies in different clothes
Maybe try somebody honest
For once, who knows?

Verse 2
Six-hundred-dollar steaks downtown
Kids still hungry in the street
Money always shows up for bombs
Never shows up when we need it

Chorus
Quit voting for these assholes
They all stink
Find somebody down your street
See if they can think
Quit voting for these assholes
Same old lies in different clothes
Maybe try somebody honest
For once, who knows?

Bridge
This is the world we're making
Right now it looks half broke
Everybody wants a future
Nobody wants the yoke
Do better for each other
Do better while there's time
Nobody's coming to save us
We're all standing in the line

Chorus
Quit voting for these assholes
They all stink
Find somebody down your street
See if they can think

Outro
How do we get a lobbyist
To buy politicians for us?
It's all our money anyway
About damn time they worked for us

A Mountain Used To Be Here

Verse 1
There used to be a mountain here
I swear I'm telling true
You could see it from the highway
In every shade of blue
My daddy taught me all its trails
We knew every stone
Now I stand at the overlook
And somehow I'm alone

Chorus
There used to be a mountain here
Now there's just a hole
They sold it by the truckload
And called it progress for us all
There used to be a mountain here
Tell me what it's worth
When the profit's in a bank account
And the poison's in the earth

Verse 2
The men all got their paychecks
The company moved on
The jobs went with the machinery
The mountain's still gone
The water turned a sickly green
The fish and stream disappeared
Funny how the people leaving
Was exactly what I feared

Chorus
There used to be a mountain here
Now there's just a hole
They sold it by the truckload
And called it progress for us all
There used to be a mountain here
Tell me what it's worth
When the profit's in a bank account
And the poison's in the earth

Bridge
I don't blame the miners
Hell, that's where I come from
I hate the folks who took the money
And left us with what's gone
I miss our great mountain here
But now nothing can be done

Chorus
There used to be a mountain here
Now there's just a hole
They sold it by the truckload
And called it progress for us all
There used to be a mountain here
And maybe I'm a fool
But if you can't leave something better
What the hell are we all doing?

Corporate Fairy Tales

Verse 1
Corporate fairy tales
Casting spells to keep us in the dark
Manifesting distractions from your life
Diminishing your spark
Crystal screens and glowing runes
Whispering what to buy
Every merchant wizard wants
Another piece of your mind

Chorus
Cast protection on yourself
Shine light into the shadows
Banish all the doubts they feed
That keep your spirit hollow
Reject the curses handed down
By every fear you've known
The strongest magic in the world
Is learning you are your own

Verse 2
False prophets on enchanted boxes
Selling dreams for gold
Promising transformation
While making your heart cold
Read the signs around you
Not the ones they write
The moon still rises free of charge
And stars still guide the night

Chorus
Cast protection on yourself
Shine light into the shadows
Banish all the doubts they feed
That keep your spirit hollow
Reject the curses handed down
By every fear you've known
The strongest magic in the world
Is learning you are your own

Bridge
Practice daily alchemy
Turn anger into grace
Turn strangers into neighbors
Throw despair on its face
Scry the future in your actions
Not in cards upon a shelf
The universe gets brighter
Every time you heal yourself

Chorus
Cast protection on yourself
Shine light into the shadows
Banish all the doubts they feed
That keep your spirit hollow
Reject the curses handed down
By every fear you've known
The strongest magic in the world
Was hiding in you all along

Sick in the Head

Chorus
Who needs health care anyway?
We're all just sick in the head
No matter what they promise us
We're all gonna wind up dead
Who can’t afford health care?
That's what the rich folks say
As they’re all calling doctors
From their luxury hospital beds

Verse 1
Life is completely terminal
None of us get out alive
You might as well be happy
Help somebody else survive
You don't get extra bonus points
For suffering all alone
We're all just passing through this place
Trying to make it a home

Chorus
Who needs health care anyway?
We're all just sick in the head
No matter what they promise us
We're all gonna wind up dead
Who can’t afford health care?
That's what the rich folks say
As they’re all calling doctors
From their luxury hospital beds

Verse 2
See the wonder around you
Pass a smile when you can
Most of the reasons to be joyful
Outnumber the troubles of man
The sunset doesn't send invoices
The birds don't charge a fee
A friend who shows up when you're hurting
Is still mostly free

Bridge
The ambulance costs a fortune
The medicine costs even more
Everybody knows it's broken
Yet nobody knows what for
So laugh before you lose your mind
Dance before you're dead
And maybe keep a doctor handy
Despite what the chorus said

Chorus
Who needs health care anyway?
We're all just sick in the head
No matter what they promise us
We're all gonna wind up dead
Who needs health care anyway?
Come on, that's clearly dumb
If everybody's gonna need it
Then maybe everybody should have some

Doomscroll Blues

Verse 1
Why do we all do this?
Why do we keep it this way?
Thumbs rolling in circles on screens
Never looking away
We live on a big full planet
I swear it's still out there
Mountains, rivers, people laughing
But nobody seems to care

Pre-Chorus
Every app wants one more minute
Every minute turns to hours
Everybody's selling outrage
Like it's some kind of superpower

Chorus
I've got the Doomscroll Blues
My thumb knows what to do
Round and round and round it goes
Looking for something new
I've got the Doomscroll Blues
And maybe so do you
A whole damn world outside the door
But we're adding up views

Verse 2
If your thumbs keep up like this
One day they're never gonna stop
They'll keep making endless circles
Whether you're awake or not
You'll be dreaming about arguments
You'll be counting likes in bed
You'll know what every stranger thinks
And forget what's in your own head

Pre-Chorus
Breaking news and breaking hearts
Breaking everybody's brain
Twenty-four-hour panic attacks
Disguised as information

Chorus
I've got the Doomscroll Blues
My thumb knows what to do
Round and round and round it goes
Looking for something new
I've got the Doomscroll Blues
And maybe so do you
A whole damn world outside the door
But we're adding up views

Bridge
I miss boredom
I miss silence
I miss wondering what's over the hill
I miss getting lost
Without a machine
Trying to tell me where to feel
Turn it off
Go outside
Talk to mom
Take a ride
Read a book
Plant a tree
Remember who you're supposed to be

Chorus
I've got the Doomscroll Blues
But I'm trying something new
The world was spinning long before
Some billionaire sold you the view
I've got the Doomscroll Blues
But maybe they can be cured
Turns out the grass is still green
And the sky isn't behind a screen

Outro
Why do we all do this?
Why do we keep it this way?
Thumbs rolling in circles on screens
While life keeps rolling away

We Were Promised Flying Cars

Verse 1
I can stand in Memphis
And see your face in Japan
We can talk about our day or the weather
Without a wire in our hands
Every answer ever written
Lives inside a little screen
Yet somehow half the population
Still argues what the facts might be

Chorus
We were promised flying cars
That's what The Jetsons said
The part they never mentioned
Was everything below was dead
The reason they were flying
Was because they had to be
The ground was poisoned, paved, or burning
As far as you could see

Verse 2
They showed us how the robots
Would cook and clean the house
Once again they forgot to mention
Everything was extinct
Even the mouse
We've got machines that write symphonies
And rovers driving Mars
But somehow people still go bankrupt
Just because they got sick or old

Chorus
We were promised flying cars
That's what The Jetsons said
The part they never mentioned
Was everything below was dead
The reason they were flying
Was because they had to be
The ground was poisoned, paved, or burning
As far as you could see

Bridge
Maybe the future isn't gadgets
Maybe it never was
Maybe it's clean water
And neighbors we can trust
Maybe it's planting trees
Whose shade we'll never see
Maybe the greatest technology
Is responsibility
We've got the flying cameras
We've got the talking phones
We've got the endless entertainment
Streaming to every home
But tell me why the rivers struggle
Tell me why the forests fall
Tell me why we're still pretending
Progress means consuming all

Chorus
We were promised flying cars
And honestly that's pretty cool
But I'd trade every rocket ever built
For a world that wasn't fooled
We were promised flying cars
Instead here's what I choose
A living planet underneath me
And maybe better shoes

Humpy Bumpy

Verse 1
You can call it love if you want to
But let's just face the truth
Love has nothing to do with it
It's biology working through you
Let's be honest about what it is
Just having a little fun
Every species on this planet
Has been doing it since day one

Pre-Chorus
Poets write a thousand pages
Movies make a billion bucks
But underneath the fancy language
Everybody knows what's up

Chorus
It's the Humpy Bumpy
Now everybody knows
A little bit of chemistry
And off your common sense goes
The Humpy Bumpy
The oldest dance around
The whole world's existence started
Because somebody got down

Verse 2
They write songs about forever
And soulmates in the stars
Then two weeks later they're throwing
Each other's stuff out in the yard
Cupid's just a marketing team
With great public relations
Selling basic mammal instincts
As a magical revelation

Pre-Chorus
Every generation swears
Their version's something new
Meanwhile every squirrel and rabbit
Are rolling their eyes at you

Chorus
It's the Humpy Bumpy
Now everybody knows
A little bit of chemistry
And off your common sense goes
The Humpy Bumpy
The oldest dance around
The whole world's existence started
Because somebody got down

Bridge
The birds do it
The bees do it
The bats hanging upside down
The fish do it
The bears do it
Even politicians… somehow

Chorus
It's the Humpy Bumpy
The reason we're alive
The most successful activity
In the history of time
The Humpy Bumpy
No mystery to solve
If nobody ever did it
None of us would be involved

Outro
You can call it love if you want to
But let's face reality
Sometimes the biggest problem
Is a complete lack of battery

War Is Good For

Verse 1
War killed my granddad's brother
War killed your cousin too
Every nation waves a flag
Then buries someone new
The papers call it sacrifice
The speeches call it pride
But all I see are photographs
Of people who should still be alive

Pre-Chorus
We learned the dates in history
The battles and the names
But nobody explained to us
Why it always ends the same

Chorus
Tell me what war's good for
I'll show you where it went
Into the ground with someone's kid
And every goddamn cent
Tell me what war's good for
Look around this town
It's written in the empty chairs
And the names carved in the ground

Verse 2
You can build a thousand tanks
You can build a thousand bombs
You can teach a child to hate somebody
Before they learn the song
You can promise glory all day long
And medals bright as gold
But nobody hangs a medal
Around the heart that's grown cold

Pre-Chorus
Another folded flag arrives
Another family cries
And somewhere someone shakes a hand
And calls it justified

Chorus
Tell me what war's good for
I'll show you where it went
Into the ground with someone's kid
And every goddamn cent
Tell me what war's good for
Look around this town
It's written in the empty chairs
And the names carved in the ground

Bridge
My mama said we're all connected
Every river every tree
Every stranger on the planet
Shares this spinning rock with me
If that's true then every graveyard
Belongs a little bit to all
And every time we choose another war
Humanity grows small
War gave us monuments
War gave us scars
War gave us stories
About who we are
But we'd trade every statue
Every ribbon every star
For one more supper table
With the people that we lost

Chorus
Tell me what war's good for
A million names in stone
Empty chairs at supper
And children left alone
Tell me what war's good for
I've searched my whole life through
And every answer leads me back
To somebody I once knew
Every nation waves a flag
Every nation sings
But underneath the uniforms
We're still the same damn thing

My Hands

Verse 1
My hands, my feet
My fucking mouth too
How dare you think
You get to tell me what to do
You really must be a fool
Assuming I'm a sheep
Eager to follow commands
Too scared to think too deep

Pre-Chorus
You can wave your little flag
You can shout and stomp and preach
But my mind ain't property
And it's still within my reach

Chorus
My hands
My feet
My fucking mouth too
I decide where they go
Not you
My eyes
My heart
My stubborn little brain
You can call me crazy
I'll do it anyway

Verse 2
I don't wear marching boots
Mine go STOMP STOMP
Questioning everything
All day long I use my brain
Don't care if that makes me insane
I'd rather stand alone
Than be somebody's chain

Pre-Chorus
Every tyrant in history
Started with a pitch "Just do what you're told"
Yeah, here's my answer, bitch

Chorus
My hands
My feet
My fucking mouth too
I decide where they go
Not you
My eyes
My heart
My stubborn little brain
You can call me crazy
I'll do it anyway

Bridge
You can follow your orders
Straight to hell if you want to
You can surrender your choices
If that's what gets you through
But every road I've ever trusted
Started with one simple thought
If somebody says "don't ask questions"
That's exactly when you ought

Breakdown
Think for yourself
Nobody's coming
Nobody's saving
Nobody's thinking for you

Chorus
My hands
My feet
My fucking mouth too
I decide where they go
Not you
My life
My voice
My one shot through
You control your choices
And I control mine too

Outro
STOMP STOMP
Still thinking.
STOMP STOMP
Still free.

Thank You, Dolly

Verse 1
Dolly Parton saved my ass this weekend
She crept into my dreams again
I hadn't seen her in years
It's always nice to catch up with a fond friend
Her words of wisdom
Ringing to my rhythm of truth
Just like always
She somehow knows exactly what to do
Weaving her heart right into mine
Helping me through space and time
She leaves before the morning light
But somehow everything feels right

Pre-Chorus
Some folks pray to heaven
Some search the stars above
Sometimes life just sends a voice
Wrapped inside of love

Chorus
Thank you, Dolly
For showing up when I was coming apart
You never knew you were there
But you've been mending this old heart
Thank you, Dolly
For every song that helped me stand
Sometimes an angel doesn't need wings
She just needs a guitar in her hand

Verse 2
The world gets loud
Everybody's selling fear
Everybody's certain
Nobody can really hear
Then there you are
Smiling like the morning sun
Reminding me that kindness
Still wins when all is done
You never asked for anything
Never claimed to know it all
You just keep lifting other people
Every time they start to fall

Bridge
Maybe dreams are funny things
Maybe they're connection running deep
Maybe good hearts travel farther
Than we ever learn to believe If that's true
Then yours reached mine again
Right when I needed it most
Like it somehow always has

Final Chorus
Thank you, Dolly
For being exactly who you've always been
Proof that grace can wear high heels
And still walk through the wind
Thank you, Dolly
If these words should ever find your eyes
You won't remember me

Dolly Parton saved my ass this weekend...
And I just thought y’all ought to know.